Tina Chan - imperfect

Chelsa took a shaky breath and then met Kristi’s eyes for a second. She rapidly blinked, as if holding tears back. Kristi laced her fingers through Chelsa’s hand and listened with rapt attention. She felt Chelsa tighten her grip.

“I was immediately pulled under the icy water. I’m not a bad swimmer, but the current was too fast and too strong. Several of the students began to worry that the prank had gone too far, but nobody tried to help me. Just then, Alex came by and saw the commotion. He jumped into the river to rescue me since he was an excellent swimmer.

“Together, we were able to stay afloat as the rapids carried us downstream. But Alex was holding onto my backpack since he knew Ghost was held within it, and that sapped a lot of his strength. By the time the rescue team arrived, my entire body was numb from the frigid water. The doctors told me I was extremely fortunate to have survived for such a long time in freezing water with only hypothermia.”

Chelsa lowered her eyelids, letting the events of the past wash over her. “But Alex wasn’t so lucky. He was dead by the time he arrived at the hospital. Somehow, Ghost managed to survive the whole ordeal; he’s one fortunate leopard.”

A moment of silence enveloped the space around them. The only sounds to be heard were the cicadas chirruping and the breeze teasing the foliage.

“Why did you tell me you killed Alex? You never did such a thing,” Kristi stated.

“If I hadn’t dated Alex in the first place, none of this would’ve happened. The other students would’ve left him alone.”

“But still,” Kristi argued, “ you didn’t kill Alex. It was an accident .”

Chelsa shrugged. “There are several angles to look at this tragedy. Ever since Alex’s death, I’ve learned to stand up for myself. I can’t bear the thought of other people getting hurt because of me. Yeah—I’m still an outcast from society, but at least I’ve learned to deal with it.”

They sat in a silence. Kristi’s brain struggled to digest all that she just heard.

“Kristi?”

“Yeah?”

“I really think you should give Troop a chance. I know he likes you and I think you have feelings for him as well,” Chelsa said.

Do I like Troop? Kristi wondered. I suppose I am a bit attracted to him. His personality does seem to have changed, now that I think about it. I guess I have been so occupied trying to distance myself from getting to know him that I am missing the big picture.

“You never know when you’ll lose someone you care about,” Chelsa said, interrupting her thoughts.

“I’ll try to be more amicable towards Troop.”

Chelsa flashed her the first smile she had seen on her face in a while. Then she checked her watch.

“Goodness—we better start walking back. It’s been almost an hour.”

Kristi woke up relatively early the next day, though Troop was already starting a fire by the time she ducked out from the tent after pulling her hair into a messy bun.

“Morning,” she yawned.

Troop looked up in surprise. “Jaiden and Chelsa still asleep?”

“Yep.”

He handed her a bowl of oatmeal topped with brown sugar.

“Thanks. Did you eat yet?” Kristi said.

“Yeah.”

She warmed her cold hands against the warm bowl and spooned a large bite of gooey oatmeal into her mouth. She felt the warmth of the oatmeal travel down her throat and into her stomach. Even though the temperature was reasonably warm during the day, the air was still crisp in the morning.

“Something bothering you?” Troop asked.

“Just thinking how I should say something.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t tell me to mind my own business.”

“Troop,” Kristi said, fighting to find the right words to convey her thoughts. “I’m sorry if I acted rude to you. I know I kept on refusing your help when I could’ve used it.”

“Well,” Troop said, “I wasn’t expecting to hear that from you.”

“What I’m trying to say is that I’ll try to stop acting so unfriendly towards you,” she finished awkwardly.

Troop ran his fingers through his dark hair the way he did when he was trying to think of something to say. “Does that mean you’re willing to befriend me?”

“I guess. I judged you harshly because you didn’t exactly make a good first-impression.”

“I’m actually a nice person once you get to know me, believe it or not,” Troop said.

Kristi flashed him a half-convinced look.

“Is there anything I can do to convince you I’m not a jerk?”

Kristi thought for a moment than cracked a smile. “As a matter of fact, yes. There is something you could do.”

“What is it? I’ll do it right now.”

“I want you to send an instafication to every person you have harassed and apologize to them.”

Troop faltered for a split second, and then pasted a determined expression on his face. “If that’s what it takes to gain your trust, so be it.”

Kristi expected him to have a huge list of kids to apologize to, but a little part of her hoped Troop wasn’t the jerk she thought he was. She looked over Troop’s shoulder and onto his electro-slate where he was typing the names of the people he was going to call. In total, there were eight names.

Troop activated the instafication app on his electro-slate and walked away from the camp for some privacy. Kristi followed him.

“I’m coming with you to make sure you’re not instaficating your friends,” she said.

“You don’t trust me? I always keep my words.”

“Tough luck.”

“Fine. Don’t interrupt me though.”

“Don’t worry, it’ll be like I’m not even here.”

She sat cross-legged on the grass. Troop dropped down beside her and connected to Lilly Trusk, the first name on his list.

“Hello?” asked a girl’s voice.

“This is Troop.”

Lilly’s voice immediately took on a defensive tone when she replied, “What do you want? Is this a prank call?”

“No, it’s not. I just wanted to apologize for hiding your electro-slate on the school roof a few months ago.”

There was an awkward stretch of silence, and then Lilly said, “Are you serious? Is this some sort of sick joke?”

“No, I really regret throwing your slate onto the school roof.”

“You do realize I had to get a new slate after you threw my old electro-slate, right? The screen got cracked when it landed on the roof.”

“I didn’t know that,” Troop said. He sounded distraught. “You should’ve let me know that I broke your slate—I could’ve bought you a replacement.”

Lilly let out a nervous laugh. “No, you would’ve laughed in my face and told me to suck it up. At least that’s what the old Troop would’ve done. I don’t recognize the Troop who is talking to me right now.”

Troop caught Kristi’s eye and shot her a quick smile.

“I’ve changed a lot, Lilly. I really want to offer my sincerest apology for my immature actions. Do accept my apology?”

“If you really mean it, then yes.”

“So are we cool?”

“We’re cool. Where are you anyways? Your mom said you were away on some family business.”

“I suppose you could say that.”

“Alright, I have to go. Bye.”

“Bye.” Troop ended the instafication.

“See, that didn’t go so bad,” Kristi said.

Troop rolled his shoulders and replied, “One down, seven more to go.”

“Go get ’em.”

Troop finished all of his calls before Jaiden and Chelsa joined them outside. Some of his instafications went smoothly, like with Lilly. Others didn’t go so well. Some students heard Troop out and left on good terms. Some students disconnected as soon as they heard his voice; at least he tried.